Having charities and their funders understand what difference they make in meeting social need is crucial if we are to improve what we all do. In all times, getting ever better at helping those people we care about and are in the sector to help must be a goal: at a time when extra financial resources to achieve more outcomes are unlikely to be forthcoming, making the resources we have work harder and more effectively is a must.
It is not easy for many. While almost everyone in the not-for-profit sector wants to do good, they rarely came into the business driven by a passion for measurement and evaluation. So they need help and they need a degree of prodding. That is what NPC does in many ways, both as a consultant to funders and charities and as a think tank, addressing these issues in all their forms. On Monday 15 October we launched our new brand and website, reflecting our work and the position we occupy at the nexus between charities and funders.
It has been a busy week at NPC, with the launch of the first report in our new brand colours, Making a impact , following on Tuesday 16 October. The report is the first representative study of impact measurement amongst UK charities, and is about trying to understand what is actually happening in impact measurement and what charities find are the pros and cons. By understanding better the constraints and impediments to assessing impact, as well as the rewards that those who are measuring their impact feel they obtain, we can move more charities and funders along the road to better impact and introduce it to those that have not yet got to first base. It is very pleasing that a variety of funders share this belief and we are very grateful to them for their support in this research.
The survey presents a wealth of information alongside new thinking and insight that we hope will provoke further research as well as action. It has been heartening to learn that three quarters of charities measure some or all of their work, and that 75 per cent of these invest more in evaluation now than they did five years ago. One of the most intriguing conclusions is that while charities come to impact measurement mainly because of funder reasons--their funders ask for it or they think it might get them more money--the real benefit they believe it offers is that they can improve their services. Like so many of us, in so many aspects of our lives, it's as if they have to be cajoled into doing something that they find is good for them in the end.
This finding that those who undertake impact measurement feel they provide a better service as a consequence is very, very encouraging. Charities and funders want to do their best. They try to do their best and they sometimes think that that means putting to the side classic management tools for improvement. If this survey begins the road to convincing them that this should in fact be core to their very being, it may be a landmark moment.